


The Sisters Sterling

by agaytoremembr



Series: sterling!verse [8]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Diego meets Sterling's sisters, For the first time, I love my boys, M/M, and diego used to be a stripper, because stripper diego is my life, named Hades, oh yeah they have a cat, this is really just self indulgent fluff honestly, this is set after they move in together but before Sterling gets hurt in the fire
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-11
Updated: 2019-05-12
Packaged: 2020-02-29 19:09:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18784369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agaytoremembr/pseuds/agaytoremembr
Summary: Sterling's three older sisters show up without warning.





	1. Chapter 1

Diego awoke to a small crash.

 

If it had been a year before, he would have jumped out of bed and had knives at the ready. If it were a year later, perhaps he wouldn’t have woken at all.

 

Now, though, he was just irritated. The only person in the city who had a key to their apartment was Klaus, and it wasn’t like Klaus hadn’t stumbled into their apartment all fucked up before. But unlike then, Sterling had _just_ gotten off a twenty four hour shift, and he really didn’t want his boyfriend to wake up. Not for Klaus’ drunken antics, anyway.

 

He slipped carefully out of Sterling’s arms - his boyfriend was extra clingy when he was tired- and grabbed the pocketknife he kept on the bedside table. Even if he was pretty sure it was just Klaus, Diego couldn’t help being cautious.

 

He shuffled out of the bedroom, yawning quietly as he fiddled with the handle of the knife. He expected to find his brother digging through their fridge, but the kitchen was empty. He contemplated just yelling for Klaus, but before he could actually be bothered to _do_ it, he heard another crash. His eyes narrowed: the living room. If Klaus broke _another_ coffee table, Diego was going to kill him.

 

But what Diego saw when he crept around the corner was definitely _not_ Klaus.

 

Three tall, blond women were circled around what had been Sterling’s newest plant, speaking in fierce, hushed whispers. Diego couldn’t quite make out their words, so he took a hesitant step closer and-

 

Stepped on Hades’ tail. The cat meowed angrily, taking a moment to glare at Diego before scampering off, probably to curl up underneath their bed.

 

It wasn’t until Diego looked up again that he noticed the whispers had stopped. The three women all stared at him, open mouthed, and Diego stared back, unmoving, like a deer in headlights. The shortest of the three’s eyes were flickering from Diego’s face, and back down, and it was then that Diego realized two things: one, that these three were most definitely Sterling’s sisters, and two, that he was standing in front of them in nothing but a pair of gaudy, _tiny_ silver boxer briefs.

 

One of them opened their mouth, but Diego was quicker. He turned on his heel before any of them could say anything, and almost ran back to the safety of their bedroom. He wouldn’t normally wake Sterling up after a shift, but he was _not_ dealing with the Sterling sisters on his own. He grabbed a pair of lounge pants from the floor, tugging them on as he hopped over to the bed to shake Sterling awake.

 

Sterling grumbled, attempting to roll over to go back to bed, but Diego was insistent.

 

“What?” Sterling honest-to-god _whined_ , glaring up at Diego from barely opened eyes. He had only been asleep for five hours, he was _exhausted_. One look at Diego’s panicked face had Sterling a little bit more alert, pushing himself up to a sitting position. He rubbed his eyes, frowning. “Baby, what’s wrong?”

 

Diego’s face was still flushed from his run-in with the sisters seeing him in his underwear, not to mention his most embarrassing pair. “Y-y-yuh,” Diego stuttered, clamping his eyes shut and clenching his jaw. A moment passed before he trusted himself to speak again. “Your- ah, your… your sisters are in the living room.”

 

Diego’s pained expression paired with his horrified tone seemed a little dramatic to Sterling. It was just his sisters. “Okay… and?” After all, _he_ had braved Diego’s family.

 

Diego scowled. “ _And_ , they saw me in my fucking underwear!”

 

There was a beat of silence, and Sterling burst into uncontrollable laughter.

 

“ _This isn't funny!_ ” Diego hissed, fuming. Sterling _knew_ which pair of underwear Diego was wearing, had specifically asked him to wear them for when he got home. “Keep laughing,” he threatened, slowly, “and I’ll never wear them again.”

 

The threat was mostly empty- they were, surprisingly, Diego’s favorite pair, smooth as silk and _pretty,_  the one pretty thing he actually allowed himself. And even then, it was only because Sterling was the only person outside of himself who would ever see them. _Or he was supposed to be_ , Diego thought with a sinking stomach.

 

Sterling had originally bought the shiny, outrageous thing as a semi-gag gift, when he found out about Diego’s illustrious past career as a part-time stripper during, and after, the police academy. Both of them were shocked when Diego turned out to actually like them.

 

Sterling fell for the bluff, like Diego knew he would, and his laughter cut off abruptly. “Fine,” he mumbled, sighing heavily and throwing an arm around Diego’s waist. He tugged him close until they were flush, Sterling’s cheek pressed against Diego’s stomach.

 

Diego’s hand went automatically to play with Sterling’s hair, and when Sterling began pressing wet, lazy kisses along his belly, he almost lost himself in the touch. Sterling’s fingers on the waistband of his boxers were enough to jar him back into reality. He smacked Sterling’s hand away, jerking back to glare at his stupidly handsome, adorably sleepy, unfairly tempting boyfriend. “Your sisters are in the apartment!” He hissed, grabbing a t-shirt from the floor and yanking it over his head.

 

Sterling blinked. “Oh yeah,” he muttered, with a sheepish grin. He shrugged, pushing the covers off, still eyeing Diego a bit too suggestively, in Diego’s opinion.

 

Diego groaned. “Stop that.” He ducked down to give Sterling a quick kiss- it was hard for him to resist, and what harm could a simple peck do?-  but Sterling clearly had bigger plans. His arms wrapped around Diego as he tried to deepen the kiss, still pliant and warm from sleep.

 

Diego struggled out of the embrace, gasping. His sleep-drunk boyfriend was really testing his control. “I really need you to wake up and think with your upstairs brain, okay? Cause I am _not_ dealing with your family alone, and I’m _definitely_ not having sex with you while your sisters are right outside!” Sterling’s lower lip jutted out in a pout, and Diego couldn’t help his fond grin. He rolled his eyes. “You can blow me later,” he promised, “ _after_ they leave.

 

“Now, _please_ , for the love of all that is holy, could you get dressed so they don’t think we’re actually in here fucking?”

 

Sterling grinned, the slow, easy quirk of the lips that made Diego fall in love with him all over again. “I’ll hold you to that.”*

 

Diego rolled his eyes, biting back a small grin of his own. “Like I would stop you,” he scoffed, grabbing Sterling’s sleep pants and tossing them at him. He glanced in the mirror over their dresser and frowned at his reflection, finger combing his unruly bedhead.

 

He was so focused on his task that he didn’t notice Sterling until his boyfriend was pressed against his back, arms around his waist and chin resting on his shoulder. “You look _fine,_ ” Sterling murmured, his hot breath tickling Diego’s neck. “Now let’s go before I try to show you just how fine you are.”

 

Diego flushed, rolling his eyes and turning around to face his boyfriend. “You’re such a fucking tease,” he muttered, shaking his head.

 

Sterling smirked, crossing his arms over his chest. He raised a brow. “As much of a tease as _you_ the time you spent an entire damn _day_ trying to get me riled up at the mansion, just to fuck with Luther?”

 

Diego’s cheeks flamed. “That was _not_ the same thing, and you know it,” he replied hotly, scowling a little petulantly. “Luther already _liked_ you then. Your sisters don't even know me yet!”

 

Diego cringed at how pathetic his voice sounded, and Sterling softened. He pulled Diego into a tight hug, rubbing up and down his back. “They’re going to love you,” he promised.

 

“How do _you_ know?” Diego grumbled, his voice muffled by Sterling’s shirt.

 

Diego could almost _hear_ Sterling’s smile. “Because I love you, and you make me happy. That’s all they want for me.”

 

Warmth bloomed in Diego’s chest. “You’re such a fucking sap,” he whispered, pulling back to give Sterling with a nervous grin. “Alright, alright. Let’s go meet them before they leave or come looking for us.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know that thing of, when you're around people you haven't seen in a bit, and you revert back to how you were when you used to see them?
> 
> Well Sterling gets really southern around his family.

The sisters were still in the living room where Diego had left them, but they had migrated over to the sofa. All three were lounging, two of them talking animatedly to each other while the third scrolled through her phone.

 

Sterling seemed energized at the sight of his sisters, the last vestiges of sleep falling away. As far as Diego was aware, Sterling and his sisters hadn’t seen each other for six months, one of the longest stretches the siblings had gone.

 

Diego wondered idly what Sterling would think if he knew Diego had gone a decade without seeing his siblings before.

 

“Well, well, well,” Sterling crowed, almost bouncing on his heels and grinning from ear to ear. “If it ain’t the three Furies, up from the bowels a hell, just ta visit li’l ol’ me.”

 

Diego blinked. Had Sterling’s accent gotten _thicker_? _How_? He looked back and forth between the four Sterlings, as the siblings seemed to have some sort of silent stare down. The air crackled with tension, before they all started laughing, and the girls converged on their brother.

 

The sisters circled Sterling, wrapping him in a three-way embrace, all of them chattering so quickly that Diego couldn’t quite follow. Their voices died down after a few minutes, and one of the sisters, to Diego’s amusement, used the lull to smack Sterling upside the head.

 

“Ow!” Sterling whined, sounding younger than Diego had ever heard him. He glared at the offending sister- the eldest, Victoria. “The hell was that for?!”

 

“‘Cause it’s been too long since I've gotten to do it,” Vic said with a smirk. She hesitated, and her voice was gentle. “We haven’t seen you in _forever_ , Jess.”

 

Sterling’s expression softened. “I missed you too,” he rumbled, ruffling one of the girls’ hair.

 

“But,” he added with a frown, “there are _better_ ways a seein’ me, than ta break inta my apartment an’ nearly scare my boyfriend ta death.”

 

Diego flushed when all three of the girls’ attention was switched over to him, and he felt a little like a particularly juicy piece of meat about to be tossed to a pack of lions.

 

And lions was an apt description for the Sterling siblings, Diego thought, a little dazed. All four of them had the same golden hair and sun-bronzed skin, the same regal air they held themselves with.

 

One of the girls reached out to pat Sterling’s arm reassuringly, all the while keeping her gaze on Diego. Diego definitely was not reassured. “Sorry, Jess. Couldn't give you an opportunity to hide the boyfriend from us like the _last_ time we were in town.” She smiled what Diego was sure would be a beatific grin, if not for the knot of fear it inspired in his belly. “Besides… it was definitely more fun this way.” She smirked, giving Diego a very obvious once over. “We _definitely_ wouldn’t have gotten the show we got if we’d have told you we were comin’.”

 

“Crissy,” Sterling warned, and Crissy- Cristine- _Cris_ , Diego remembered Sterling said she preferred Cris- laughed.

 

“C’mon, Jess.” the youngest, Anne, nudged Sterling with her elbow and grinned. “You ain’t had a serious relationship since _college_ , and then we hear he met Mom and Dad? You _had_ to know this was comin’.”

 

Vic patted Sterling’s shoulder, eyeing Diego curiously. “We’re not gonna scare him… we just wanna know a little bit about the guy you’re shackin’ up with.”

 

Sterling rolled his eyes, fighting a fond smile. “You’re a _teacher_ , ain’t you s’posed to be more refined, or somethin’?” He made a face. “‘Shackin’ up’ sounds dirty.”

 

Vic rolled her eyes, a mirror image of her brother with longer hair. “ _Fine_ , we just wanna meet the guy you’re head over heels for. Is that better?”

 

Sterling nodded, two spots of pink on his cheeks. “Sure is.” He grinned wide, staring straight at Diego.

 

Warmth bloomed in Diego’s chest. Head over heels, huh? “Who knew a cowboy could be such a sap?” He teased, before he could stop himself.

 

Vic aww’ed, while Cris and Anne snorted with laughter. “He calls you _cowboy_?” Cris asked with a smirk.

 

Sterling huffed. “I tried to tell him that ain’t even a Louisiana stereotype, but-”

 

Anne cut him off, a devilish grin on her lips. “No, no, it ain’t, but you’re _totally_ a cowboy. I mean, who else wears that much flannel?”

 

Vic bit back a laugh, quirking an eyebrow. “She’s right. _We_ don’t even wear that much flannel, and we still live in the south.”

 

Diego grinned, his anxiety melting away as he joined the sisters in his favorite sport: teasing Sterling.

 

“He has a whole drawer full of plaid pajama pants, too,” he informed them, smirking. The girls looked gleeful, and Sterling shot him a glare. Diego shrugged. “What? I'm on their side.”

 

“Traitor,” Sterling muttered, fighting a smile. “You’re _my_ boyfriend, you’re s’posed ta love me most.”

 

Diego snickered. “I can both love you and want you to wear something other than flannel.”

 

“Says the one who only owns black clothes!”

 

“Not true, there’s navy in there too!” Diego shot back. “Besides you _know_ that's just practical for work!”

 

“And flannel’s comfy!”

 

The sisters watched Sterling and Diego bicker fondly, seemingly having their own silent conversation amongst the three of them that consisted mainly of raised eyebrows, intense looks, and gesturing. They reached some sort of agreement, and Cris stepped forward, interrupting Sterling and Diego who had moved on somehow to arguing about the DVD they had watched the night before.

 

They both broke off, looking at Cris strangely, and Cris smiled. “We like him,” she announced, almost ominously. “But you’re still buying us dinner, and we still reserve the right to interrogate him.”

 

Sterling and Diego stared blankly for a moment, before meeting the other’s gaze for a silent conversation of their own. Sterling frowned, glancing over at his sisters and raising his eyebrows. A simple question: _is this okay?_

 

Diego bit his lip, looking over at the Sterling sisters for a moment. He was still anxious, but they didn’t scare him anymore. He turned back to Sterling and flashed a grin. He would be absolutely fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments make my day better, tell me what you thought!!
> 
> also feel free to come yell @ me about the sterling verse or just TUA on tumblr @ agaytoremembr
> 
> i really appreciate y'all who read these and leave comments, it makes my heart happy. Just so you guys know. <3


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is honestly just because someone said they wanted to see this conversation and it played out in my head. It doesn't strictly need to exist, but then, that could honestly apply to this whole series, so why not djjddk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had this thought about if everyone just accepted that these preteens were fighting crime, and then I wondered if maybe some skeptics believed it was all some sort of publicity stunt bc there were comic books and action figures of these kids afterwards.

Sterling shook his head, sighing dramatically. “Colludin’ with my sisters… I think I liked it better when you were scared a them.”

 

The girls laughed. “Aww, you were scared of us?” Vic asked with a kind smile, while Anne and Cris smirked a little too proudly.

 

Diego blushed, rolling his eyes. “After a childhood of getting my ass handed to me by Allison, I have a healthy amount of fear and respect for tall, powerful women.”

 

Sterling rolled his eyes. “Kiss ass,” he muttered, and Diego stuck out his tongue at him.

 

“Is Allison your older sister?” Anne asked curiously.

 

Diego’s emphatic “No,” mixed with Sterling’s “Kinda.”

 

The girls frowned. “Uh… how do you _kinda_ have an older sister?” Vic asked hesitantly.

 

Diego sighed. “Well, we're all actually the exact same age. We were adopted by some crazy guy, and-”

 

“Holy shit, are you one a them umbrella kids?” Cris interrupted excitedly, her eyes wide.

 

Anne laughed. “Didn’t Jesse used to be _obsessed_ with those comics?”

 

Vic rolled her eyes. “The umbrella kids weren’t _real_ , Crissy, just some publicity stunt for the comics. Nobody in their right minds would let a bunch of kids fight crime.”

 

Diego decided to ignore Vic’s statement in favor of turning to Sterling, a wide smirk on his lips. “And you said you didn’t know anything about us!”

 

Sterling groaned. “I _didn’t_!” He protested weakly. “At first, anyway. They never used your names in the comic books, how the hell was I s’posed ta know my boyfriend was the Kraken?”

 

Diego snickered, leaning against Sterling and burying his face in his neck. He couldn't quite catch his breath from his laughter, and Sterling rolled his eyes. “Yuk it up, asshole,” he mumbled, the corners of his mouth twitching, brushing his lips over Diego’s forehead.

 

Diego pulled back suddenly, his eyes narrowed as he searched Sterling’s face. “Wait, wait. So before you knew they were us… who was your favorite?”

 

“I- I, uh,” Sterling stuttered, his usual steady calm finally broken. His cheeks flushed bright pink, and he shook his head. “You, babe, definitely you.”

 

Cris and Anne burst into giggles. “I’m pretty sure Jess used to have a _huge_ thing for Spaceboy,” Anne said with a grin.

 

“He was such a little twink then, obsessed with muscles,” Cris teased.

 

Diego’s mouth fell open. He couldn’t believe his ears. “ _You had a crush on Luther?_ ”

 

“I did _not_ have a crush on him, he was a comic book character! I just… liked his powers, and his, uh, design.” Sterling glared at his sisters. “Shut up, you two!”

 

Diego scowled. “I have muscles,” he muttered, self consciously, unwillingly comparing himself to Luther and seeing how he measured up.

 

He _hated_ that, he hadn’t done that since they were kids. He knew he shouldn’t take it so seriously- it was a comic book, it wasn’t if Sterling actually had a crush on _Luther_ , and it was years and years ago. But a familiar knot of anxiety formed in his belly, telling him he would never be good enough.

 

And then he was enveloped in a warm embrace. Sterling’s arms were wrapped around him, nearly pulling Diego into his lap. He bent his head so his lips were brushing against the shell of Diego’s ear. “Ya know some silly infatuation with a comic character don’t change how I feel about you at all, right?” Diego nodded slowly, and Sterling pressed a kiss to his temple. “Good, cause my tastes have matured with time, and only gotten better. I love you, _mon cherie_. You’re perfect for me.”

 

Diego flushed bright pink, but the anxiety lessened. He leaned back against Sterling’s chest, ducking his head to hide from the grins on Anne and Cris’ faces.

  
Vic, however, seemed to be stuck. “Wait,” she said slowly, growing alarm in her tone. “You’re tellin’ me those umbrella kids were _real_?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments make my day!

**Author's Note:**

> Comments make my day better, tell me what you thought!!
> 
> also feel free to come yell @ me about the sterling verse or just TUA on tumblr @ agaytoremembr
> 
> i really appreciate y'all who read these and leave comments, it makes my heart happy. Just so you guys know. <3


End file.
